


a home away from here

by orphan_account



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Additional Characters to be added, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Slow Burn, past Jaime/Cersei mentions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-10-14 01:20:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20592290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Modern AU where Brienne and her father run a couple of boutique hotels, and the Lannisters are the largest hospitality group in Westeros. Jaime is heir to Tywin's dynasty and charming in his own right, but does he really have the steel to be more than a shadow of his father?Mentions of past Jaime/Cersei, and a lot of chasing.





	1. Chapter 1

_ *New Year's Eve _

_ "What is Jaime Lannister doing here?"  _

_ "He asked for an invite when he heard you'd be coming. I've never seen him smitten this way, love." _

*Present Day

Brienne makes it a point to check every single room after it’s been cleaned and readied for the next guest. It was a habit she started when she first joined the business as a front desk staff, telling her father that she needed to know exactly how to describe the room when she was introducing guests to their homes for the night. 

But three years later, and even though she’s now the manager of their second and smaller Evenfall property, Evenfall Square, Brienne hasn’t changed her routine. The property is small, with just 35 rooms, and each of them designed with a different layout and varied colour schemes and decor, and it’s important that she knows the rooms and how they’ve been laid out for the next guest. 

Selwyn Tarth set up their first Evenfall property in the Westeros capital of King’s Landing when Brienne was just eight. They’d been running the Tarth Resorts on their island home for decades, but the death of Brienne’s mother from pneumonia one winter made it difficult for Selwyn to continue staying on the island where they had built their life. 

Her childhood and teenage years were spent in Evenfall Hall, which began as a 10-room family establishment and grew to 82 rooms and suites over the years. Selwyn would personally prepare breakfast for guests, and Brienne would help the housekeeping staff with changing the towels and sheets on weekends. 

It was only natural that she would go on to study hospitality management in university. Evenfall was where she had grown up, learned about people and the world, where she met businessmen and families visiting King’s Landing, it was her home for a good 10 years before she moved to the north to attend university. 

At university, she met Catelyn Stark, who helmed Winterfell Hotels with her husband Ned, and she grew to appreciate the boutique hotel business more - hospitality wasn’t just about full occupancy and efficiency, but making sure that it was a home for guests, and a place they would remember as much of their trip as the other destinations they visited. 

She continued to seek out Catelyn’s opinion on operation matters, and would consult her on dealing with staff and design, even after graduating. Catelyn’s daughters Sansa and Arya were a few years younger than Brienne, and showed little interest in the family business, and Catelyn treated Brienne like her own child, mentoring her professionally and giving her the motherly love she had been deprived of so suddenly in her childhood. 

Catelyn was now teaching full-time at Westeros University, the largest university in King’s Landing, after Winterfell Hotels had been brought into Lannister International’s stable of hotels. While she continued to help Ned with overseeing the chain’s operations, the major decisions were now made by Tywin Lannister’s hospitality group, and little she said “had any weight” these days. 

“We haven’t booked our flights for Christmas,” Brienne says, as she passes the report for the previous quarter to Selwyn. It was the end of November, and the prices would be creeping up soon, but they’d both been too busy preparing for the winter peak season to remember. 

“About that… I thought perhaps we could stay in King’s Landing this Christmas.”

“Why?” They’d always gone home to Tarth for the holidays - her mother’s birthday was two days before Christmas, and she had passed just a day after the new year, and going home always felt like the only way Brienne could still honour her memory.

“It’s been 20 years since your brother’s… accident. I don’t think I could make that trip this year. Plus, it’ll be busy, with the launch for Hill in a few weeks after the new year. We can always make the trip during the Easter bank holiday.” Selwyn gets up from his seat and leaves the office, putting an end to the abrupt conversation. 

Had it really been 20 years? She remembers being a young child and seeing her parents weeping in the hall with police officers standing around. It wasn’t until years later that she understood that Galladon had drowned in one of the resort’s pools while the lifeguards had went for a lunch break. He was only seven, and her parents’ darling, and a picture of Gal and her mother was the only photo that Selwyn kept in his wallet. 

She knows that it’s not really an excuse - they would be busy with the launch of their third property, the 55-room Evenfall Hill, but she had been looking forward to going home for Christmas as always. Much as there were bittersweet memories of the island’s warm waters and fine sand, it was also where she had run around most freely, and being back there every year always felt like home, even if she had spent most of her years in King’s Landing. But she knew there would be no changing her father’s mind, and it would be a difficult trip for him to make. 

So she picks up her phone, and RSVPs yes to Loras and Renly’s gathering for New Year’s Eve. She hadn’t been for the last two - parties at their penthouse unit which were one of the most elaborate events of the year - and Renly had been trying to persuade her to return early from Tarth this year so she could be there for this one. He was planning to propose to Loras, and she had to be his wingwoman, or so her most handsome friend said, even though she knew he didn’t need any help at all. 

She hopes she won’t regret it, but she’s always regretted every single one of their parties whenever she rose with a massive hangover, so there’s that.

*

“Why the sudden interest in the Tarth properties?” Jaime leans back in his chair, flicking through the deck that he had his assistant, Podrick, compile on Selwyn Tarth’s assets on the island and in the capital after his father had told him to give a report on the viability of the acquisitions.

“Not  _ all  _ the Tarth properties. Just the Evenfall hotels,” Tywin Lannister says curtly. “Which you would know if you would pay closer attention to our competition.”

“They’re two boutique hotels, just over a hundred rooms. Hardly the space we’re playing in, Father.” Jaime closes the deck dismissively.

“Three by next spring. Their properties have been performing well, nearly full occupancy even in slow seasons, and Selwyn Tarth’s staff are notoriously hard to poach. They’d be a good fit for a new brand. I’ll give you a few months, I want it settled within two months of their third property’s opening. It’s been a while since we introduced a new brand, the portfolio is getting stale. You need to step things up, Jaime.” Tywin’s gaze is hard, the same look he would give when Jaime struggled with his schoolwork as a boy, when his dyslexia had yet to be diagnosed and the letters were just a jumbled mess most of the time.  _ You’re a disappointment _ , he didn’t have to say. 

Jaime slumps back into his chair as his father leaves the office. He hadn’t wanted to join the company, but he didn’t have a choice. Tyrion was by far more gifted and suited to the business than he was, but being the younger son and  _ not of ideal stature _ , as Tywin put it when they were teenagers, he was never in line to take over Lannister International. Cersei had expressed her ambitions from an early age, but their father made it apparent early on that she would never gain a controlling stake, even if she had a keen interest in the industry that Jaime never would have.

He wasn’t going to squander the family business - Tywin Lannister had made sure of that - and he commanded the respect of his employees and board members easily with his charisma and quick wit, but there was a restlessness he felt whenever he was at work. A gnawing feeling that the hotel business was not  _ right _ for him, no matter how long he had been at the company nor how much stake his father had transferred to him, his heir. 

Jaime opens the deck again - Selwyn Tarth ran the company with his only daughter, Brienne, who by all accounts was only in her early twenties and fairly green in the industry. He sighs, and records a brief voice message for Podrick to arrange a meeting with the pair. 

He’s barely done clearing his table when his door swings open, and Tyrion strides in, a smirk on his face. 

“I heard Father has new orders.” 

“Is Podrick my assistant, or yours?” 

“Well, technically he used to be with me, until you showed that you were incapable of keeping your female secretaries around. Honestly, Jaime, it wouldn’t be that hard to just fuck them once, would it? You didn’t have to disappoint all of them.” 

“You’re ridiculous. They quit, I didn’t ask them to leave.”

“All they wanted was to know how the grand Jaime Lannister was in bed. And you had to deprive them of that experience. How selfish of you, brother.” 

Jaime punches Tyrion on the shoulder, pushing him back onto a chair. “Why don’t you spend your time thinking of how we can get the Tarths to agree to a proposal? There’s little in it for them. They’re doing well, winning awards and their guests are happy. They don’t need us, and they clearly aren’t into the way we run things.” 

“Well, that’s why you’re going to speak with Brienne Tarth, and not her father. She’s what, 24, 25, and you’re you. Work your charms, like how you do with everyone else, it’s…” 

He doesn’t get to finish his sentence, although Jaime guesses it wouldn’t have been a productive statement anyway, as Cersei bursts into the office fuming. 

“They took out ads in every fucking paper! Banner and pop-up ads, both! And he signed off on all of them!” She yells, her green eyes flaring as she tosses what looks like a contract onto the table. 

Jaime and Tyrion exchange a look, before the younger Lannister picks it up and glances through the first few pages.  _ The Tyrells _ , he mouths to Jaime, who nods knowingly. 

Cersei had been overseeing the Lannisters’ public affairs and corporate communications department for a few years now, and had an ongoing disagreement with Tywin on how the company was marketing itself in the press. Her husband, Robert, headed Baratheon Media Group, which managed more than 10 national and regional Westerosi papers, and Cersei had been pressing to run an extensive ad campaign for their higher-tier brands ahead of the holidays, “if just to keep up with the times”. 

The Tyrells weren’t quite their competitors. Their Highgarden chain of business hotels were firmly in the four-star category, targetted at work travellers and older families, which was just a fraction of the Lannisters’ audience. But the firm was aggressive in their marketing and had expanded rapidly in the last few years, and the family’s heiress Margaery was a pretty young rose who had upstaged Cersei at one of the Lannisters’ social events that summer. 

“I’ve told Robert on so many occasions that he shouldn’t be helping the Tyrells, but the idiot just won’t listen, and Father isn’t signing off on our new budget for ads. Jaime, you’ve got to do something.” 

“Cersei, two things. One, he’s your husband, so I can’t do anything there. Two, it’s business. They’re paying for the ads, we’re not, Robert’s hardly  _ helping _ them.” 

He looks over to Tyrion, who’s scrolling rapidly on his phone, which basically means he’s doing absolutely nothing, and tries to kick him under the table, but his brother just ignores him, with a smirk across his face. 

They both know there’s little they can do when Cersei gets into one of her moods like this, apart from waiting it out. When they were younger, Jaime would have done just about anything to appease her, but those days were over. Gone were the times when he would kiss her on the lips to quieten her, when he would take her into his embrace and tell her it’d all be alright - it’d all fallen apart once he realised that Cersei wouldn’t love him in the way he loved her, that she would be with Robert and have his children, and his love for his sister would never be reciprocated in the romantic ways he used to wish for.

He knew how twisted it was - to be in love with your own sister, his own twin, to want her to be the only love of his life. Tyrion had tried to slap sense into him on several occasions, but to Jaime it had always been simple. He cared about Cersei, wanted the best for her, wanted to do his best for her, and for the longest time it had felt like she had wanted the same - until she didn’t. When Robert entered the picture it was clear that she wanted power, and he would be able to give him that. Jaime was her brother and her pawn from a young age, and while he still loved her - she would never be his. That she had made clear. 

So he dated - young girls barely in their twenties, older women in their forties, some of Cersei’s closest friends - some out of spite, mostly to get a response from his sweet sister, but none of them got that same stir in his stomach that he used to get when she entered the room. He never could find it in himself to like them enough to love, and all of those women knew it before he would say it. 

He knew it was pathetic -  _ the only woman I’ve loved is my own sister  _ \- and his brother never let him forget it. But it felt like a foregone conclusion at this point, that perhaps he would never love anyone else the way he once loved Cersei, even if that had faded in the years since she had married Robert and had three of his seed. 

All he had was his muddling life as Tywin Lannister’s heir, carrying out his father’s orders. 

He looks up Brienne Tarth the day before they’re scheduled to meet - ignoring Tyrion’s suggestion, he’s set up a lunch with both her and Selwyn. There aren’t many pictures of her, and from what he sees it’s fortunate for her. She was possibly the ugliest woman he’d ever seen: broad-faced, with large lips and freckles, and her build in those photos made her look hulking and unladylike in every sense. 

Which is why he can’t quite explain that stirring in his stomach when his gaze settles on her very blue eyes. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "My name is Jaime," he says. "I'm sure we'll meet again."

_ *New Year’s Eve _

_ “We had our pick of parties, and you had to pick Loras and Renly’s? I know you’re smitten with her, but it’s New Year’s Eve, Jaime.”  _

_ “I need to talk to her.” _

“You’re wearing a tie. You never wear ties.” Brienne looks at her father, coming out of his office in a navy suit and a black tie, which he never wears unless he’s at a formal event. Or funerals. “It’s a lunch, Dad, I’m sure you don’t need to wear a suit.” 

“Tywin Lannister’s not going to be there, but I’m sure we’re not just meeting his son to talk about the hospitality industry, love.” 

Brienne bristles at her father’s tone, sharper than usual, and looks at him quizzically. “His message said it was a casual discussion.” 

“It’s never just a casual discussion with the Lannisters.” 

*

“I told you to work your charms on the  _ girl _ , Jaime, not her father. And why am I dragged into this?” Tyrion glances over to his brother, who has one lax hand on the steering wheel. 

“I thought I’d save Pod the trouble of having to transcribe my conversation. Plus, you’re head of internal operations, and if they come on board, they’re under internal operations.”

He doesn’t tell Tyrion how he dreamt of Brienne Tarth the night before - in the same black pantsuit he saw her wearing in photos taken a few months ago, with her short straw-like hair sticking out awkwardly behind her ears. She looked like a deer in headlights, like she did in so many of the photos taken of her at social events, with too-harsh flash lighting revealing her uneven, blotchy skin. 

He doesn’t tell his brother that he woke up aroused anyway. 

She’s taller than he thought she’d be, and her father a larger man yet. They had arrived earlier than Jaime and Tyrion, and the maitre d’ had shown them to the private room that Podrick had arranged for. 

“Mr Tarth, Ms Tarth, apologies for being late. This is my brother, Tyrion.” Jaime extends his hand out to Selwyn, who is broader and towers above Jaime, but with little menace in his warm expression. 

“Mr Lannister, it’s a pleasure. My daughter, Brienne. And it’s a pleasure to meet you too, Mr Lannister.” 

Jaime glances at his brother, and knows he must be biting back the tall jokes. 

“Mr Tarth, call me Jaime. My name is Jaime.” 

*

Jaime notices how both Selwyn and Brienne frown when he suggests a complete acquisition of the three properties - the price that he’s valued the hotels at is fair, slightly above their market value even, but he can tell that the hotels are not just business to the Tarths. He feels awful, almost, when he hears himself put on his Tywin Lannister mask, threatening to buy the surrounding buildings around Evenfall Square, which the Tarths have planned to expand within the next year. 

Tyrion does a decent job of playing good cop - suggesting a deal where they will maintain ownership over the Evenfall properties, but the Lannisters will take 20 per cent cut of the earnings and have the three hotels headline their new King’s Residences brand. 

He expects Selwyn to be firmer when he turns down the offer, but the older man’s explanation surprises him.

“I set up Evenfall when my daughter and I left Tarth, and it’s been my life’s work. It’s not for sale, not in my lifetime. I appreciate the offer, but it was my wife’s belief that hotels had to be a home for our guests, and the Lannister brand is not for us.” 

Selwyn strides out of the room as he finishes, and Tyrion shoots Jaime a quick glance before he gets up and follows him, trying to convince him to discuss further. 

“Brienne, surely you can see that in the long term, Evenfall will only benefit from being part of our company. The terms are negotiable, I’m sure we can work out something that works for both of us. We will not interfere in how Evenfall is run, but we will put in the capital to expand Evenfall Square, and identify possible plots for future Evenfall properties. It’s a win-win,” Jaime examines her softening expression, and decides to try his luck. “Wench.” 

Her eyes harden, and Jaime immediately regrets taking his chances. “Excuse me, Mr Lannister? You heard my father. Evenfall is not for sale, regardless of the price and terms.” 

She gets up from her chair as well, but pauses before she leaves the room, giving Jaime just enough time to stand and step towards her. She’s just a bit taller than him, even wearing flats, and her gaze is directed downwards at him in scorn. 

"I plan to change his mind." 

"You can try all you like, Mr Lannister."

“My name is Jaime,” he says softly, glancing at the sapphire studs she’s wearing, and he feels the familiar stir below. “I’m sure we’ll meet again, Brienne.” 

She recoils slightly from the change in his tone, and her eyes meet his briefly before she turns to walk out of the room. 

Jaime finds himself just watching her walk away, her legs seemingly elongated by her slim pant legs. Until he feels a hard nudge at the back of his right knee, which causes his leg to buckle unexpectedly. 

“Now what, golden boy?” 

*

Brienne sees the financial benefits of the Lannister deal - while Evenfall was turning profits and their staff were happy, there were limits to what they could do. They’d been eyeing an expansion for Evenfall Square for a while, but the prices in the area had climbed in the last two years and didn’t look like they’d be coming down, and their opportunities to leverage the property were diminishing fast. It was their most popular location, and given the planned light rail developments in the area, it would likely continue to be that way. Partnering with the Lannisters would help them expand Evenfall Square, and relieve some of the debt that they had taken on for the launch of Evenfall Hill. 

But it wasn’t often that her father spoke of why he had started Evenfall. It still pained him to speak about the loss of his wife, but there was a candidness with which Jaime had spoken which had prompted her father to be the same. But regardless of how the conversation had started, she knew that there was no way an agreement would be reached. The Lannisters had been clear, they weren’t interested in the five Tarth island resorts. Just Evenfall. 

She’d been surprised by Jaime’s demeanour - from all accounts, he was an arrogant man, and he had never been able to shake off his Kingslayer moniker after the embacle with the Targaryen family. But the Jaime Lannister she’d met had been polite, well-mannered for the most of it, and treated her father with genuine respect. 

Until he’d called her wench. 

Brienne finds herself asking to meet Catelyn at the Starks’ family home - the auburn lady spoke briefly about how the Lannisters’ taking over of Winterfell had changed the way the hotels operated, how Ned detested working with Tywin and his children. 

She knows that Catelyn would be honest with her - the Starks had been struggling financially before they agreed to the deal. They had been making losses on their two newest properties, and had overpaid on several of their plots in the previous years, but the Lannisters had offered them a fair deal and Ned had little choice but to accept. 

“Tywin Lannister won’t take no for an answer, Brienne.” She sighs repeatedly as Brienne explains the offers which Jaime had put on the table, and looks briefly at Evenfall’s numbers from the last quarter. 

“We’re not in a position where we have to take an offer. And my dad was clear that he isn’t going to say yes.” 

“But you’re here because you want to know what could make him agree to this, aren’t you?” 

Brienne pauses, and smiles sheepishly at her mentor. 

“We’re taking Evenfall as far as it can go, but sustaining the growth for the third hotel will be hard. Our staff costs are high enough as it is, and we don’t have that much spare cash as buffer. You know how I’ve been trying to get the building next to Evenfall Square to sell, and the Lannisters know that as well. They said they’d buy up the properties, and I believe them. Why wouldn’t they?”

“I wouldn’t trust Jaime Lannister’s word for it. He’s not his father, but you’re old enough to know what happened with him and Aerys Targaryen. He’s not the sort you’d want to be in business with. We didn’t have a choice, but you do.” 

Brienne remembers the controversy that surrounded Jaime many years back - he hadn’t been working at Lannister International then, but was at the Targaryen’s chain of resorts. The official story was that he had discovered discrepancies in the firm’s accounts and tipped off the tax agency, which led to Aerys Targaryen being investigated for tax fraud and eventually convicted 25 years. Which would have ended there, until Aerys mysteriously died of heart failure while in white-collar prison. 

Whispers had it that the Lannisters had set Aerys up, and he had been poisoned to death, but several lawsuits served by Tywin Lannister quickly put an end to those rumours publicly. 

But meeting Jaime in person, and speaking to him - surely, she wasn’t such a poor judge of character, but it seemed unlikely that the Jaime Lannister she’d heard about was the same man she’d met. He was handsome and charming, for sure, but he had also seemed kind, almost.

_ We’ll meet again _ . 

*

Jaime turns off his desktop screens when Cersei walks into his office for the third time that week announced. He makes a mental note to remind Pod to keep her from turning this into a habit, but he knows it wouldn’t work, not for long, anyway.  _ She’d always been his weakness _ . 

He’s only half-listening as Cersei goes on yet another rant about how Robert’s been distracted and probably cheating with a new secretary again, but it’s always been that way. She’d hardly ever been happy with Robert Baratheon, that ugly, massive asshole of a man, but she’d birthed three of his children anyway. 

Back when they had been in their early twenties, she’d told him that Robert was uncouth and there was “no way” she’d ever fall for him. But she’d turned right around and dated him for just three months before they announced their engagement. 

Robert Baratheon had quickly risen as a media mogul in Westeros, working his swiftly through the digital media industry and then acquiring some of the brightest talents in the industry, with the help of his brother Stannis. Cersei had rightly identified that Robert would be a success, and Jaime had no doubt that it was for that reason that she had agreed to marry the brute. 

In the early years of their marriage, Cersei had been bitter and angry every time she found out about Robert’s affairs, and Jaime would often be at her beck and call. And each time, his answer would be the same: Leave him, I’ll take care of you. 

But she would only laugh, shake her head and tell him: You’re dreaming, Jaime. 

And he was dreaming, for years. Except he never quite let himself believe it, even though it was staring him in the face. How could he, when she let him kiss her, take her into his bed, spend frantic afternoons tangled in the same sheets, from their youth to their primes? 

It wasn’t until Tommen was two, and when Gendry had been the one to tell Cersei about yet another of Robert’s indiscretions - the first one he had seen with his own eyes - that Jaime decided enough was enough. He took his mother’s ring, which was given to him when he turned 21, and took Cersei to their favourite park growing up. He went on one knee, gave her the most beautiful bouquet of roses, and promised her the world.

But it wasn’t enough. He’d never be enough. 

He’d never be right, she’d said, “I could never marry you and be your wife, Jaime, we’re siblings, what would my children do?” 

He could promise to love them like his own, and he would, he already did. But it would never be enough, never be right for Cersei. 

Yet here he was, he always would be,  _ she would always be his weakness _ . 

*

Brienne flicks through the deck that Renly and Loras brought over - they’d agreed immediately after she had approached them to design Evenfall Hill, and refused to take their full fee, even though they had their pick of projects. 

She’d met Renly when they were sixteen, at a self-defence class they both took at the gym. She was the only female in the class, and Renly was by far the most handsome boy, but he was the only one who was kind to her, the only person who wasn’t laughing at her whenever she sparred with them. 

“Ignore them,” he’d told her, “They aren’t worth your time.” 

His kindness alone was enough to make her fall for him, and he was the only man that she had found herself attracted to for years after, even though she knew she was too ugly to ever be with someone quite as perfect as Renly. 

It wasn’t until they entered university that she realised he would never fall for her in the same way, when he read architecture and met Loras. Upon graduation, the pair decided to set up their own design firm. 

Within two years, they had won several awards for their designs, and were some of the most sought-after designers in Westeros. 

She still feels a little flutter whenever Renly smiled at her - his warm eyes twinkling in the light, even though she knows it’ll never be the same smile he gives Loras. But she knows she is lucky, still - in his kindness he had reminded her that it didn’t matter what the other men thought of her, it mattered more that the people in her life saw her how she wanted to be seen herself. 

Brienne frets over the launch of Evenfall Hill - even with all that they have set up, with the wonderful minimalist yet warm designs that Loras has directed for the property, and the location which they had scouted for a year before they finalised their bid, there are so many factors that could yet go wrong. 

She considers telling them about Jaime’s offer, and how he had almost talked her into saying yes - but Renly preempts her anyway. 

“I heard you met with Jaime. Quite the gentleman, isn’t he? Pity Tywin would never agree with the way Jaime likes to do things, but he’d make a fine CEO when he takes over proper. He still doesn’t have a girlfriend, from what I know, which is weird, considering the number of women who have thrown themselves at him.” 

Loras scoffs, shaking his head as he replies: “He’s too busy fucking Cersei to date anyone else.” 

“Nah, they haven’t been together in years, although they definitely had something going on. Weird, but well, to each their own.” 

Brienne startles at Renly’s frankness - they’d never discussed the workings of society, even though it seemed like there were too many overlapping connections between them, especially with Loras’ family running Highgarden and Renly’s brother having been married to Cersei despite all the ugly rumours swirling around him. 

She shoots him a questioning look, and Renly shrugs. It’s all she needs to know. 

She thinks about Jaime - his golden hair, perfect smile, shining green eyes, even in his late thirties a handsome man - how could someone so beautiful have such an ugly past? Such an ugly life? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this was a quicker update than I thought it'd be. Let me know what you think, who you hope to make an appearance. This update speed isn't an indication of things to come, but the pacing of the fic itself is pretty much how it'll be. Have a good one, you guys.

**Author's Note:**

> Another Mod-AU to add to the growing stable of wonderful, wonderful fics that others have written here. I've always been keen on the hospitality business, hopefully I can avoid some cliches here. I thought about it for a long time, but I've chosen to go with Jaime/Cersei's past here, with very clear incest on Jaime's part. There will be some revisiting down that lane, but it's clear from Cersei that Jaime is not in the picture, so we'll have some exploring of Jaime's perspective later on as to how that relationship has shaped his whole notion of love. 
> 
> Brienne here has similarly been starved of love - much as Selwyn cares for her and has been the rock for her, it's a quiet, disconnected love which she has experienced for most of her life. 
> 
> More characters to be included in the next chapters.


End file.
